NDDC activities not aligned with Niger Delta master plan – Semenitari

The Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Ibim Semenitari, said the commission’s activities were not aligned with the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan.
This was contained in the 2016 First Quarter Report of commission, obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria.
Semenitari said the situation was one of the challenges hampering the commission’s performance and identified weak stakeholders’ engagement and poor collaboration by NDDC with stakeholders as areas of deviation from the master plan.
NAN recalls that the plan was launched in 2006 to address the development challenges facing the Niger Delta.
The plan covers the environment, health, community development, transportation, water supply, social welfare, vocational training, waste management and sanitation, among others.
It was designed to offer stakeholders, individuals, groups and communities, at all levels, the opportunity to fully participate in the planning and decision-making process on the region.
Semenitari stated that the commission had been unable to engage critical stakeholders on their inputs and partnership over the years.
This, she said, had resulted in the abandonment of the plan by critical stakeholders in the region.
She said: “There is a ‘disconnect’ between the state offices and the head office in terms of projects/programmes delivery and information flow.
“Weak organisational culture and low employee discipline are also issues in the commission, leading to rapid deterioration of uncompleted works, lack of specific standards and specifications for projects.”
Semenitari also identified non-compliance with the provision of the NDDC Act by contributory partners in the funding of the commission as a major challenge.
She stated that the Federal Government, oil and gas companies as well as the Ecological Fund had not fully fulfilled their funding obligations to the commission as stipulated by law.
She said: “Projects and programmes in the NDDC budget are poorly funded due largely to the large number of budget items.
“Almost all projects being embarked upon by the commission are solely funded by the commission, while late passage of the budget leads to relatively low budget performance.”
The NDDC boss itemised a number of recommendations, which she said the commission would pursue to address the identified challenges.
They include the development and implementation of a robust stakeholders’ engagement strategy, amendment of the NDDC Act in line with current realities, restructuring and professionalising the commission’s workforce.
She, however, said the commission would constructively engage all statutory contributors to achieve adequate and timely funding.
NAN.